Top ANC leaders arrested

The three top ANC leaders in the Northern Cape were arrested this morning in connection with charges of fraud, corruption and money-laundering to the value of R49m. These are John Block, the ANC's Northern Cape chairman and MEC for finance, Alvin Botes, MEC for Social development and Yolanda Botha, ANC treasurer in the province. Botha is also an ANC MP.

Block and Botha are mentioned in the article about the new Kimberley mental health hospital that is almost R1bn over budget and about 6 years overdue.

Fred Wyngaard, Cope-MPL in the province said the ANC leadership in the Northern Cape ran the province like their own piggy bank. He claimed the total unauthorized expenditure and wasteful and irregular spending in the province over the past two years was R2.4bn.

Hawks spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko told Sapa that the three were arrested along with four other individuals at their houses around Kimberley, in connection with crimes committed between May 2005 and December 2009.

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